CALLED TO CULTIVATE

2023 Vision

Cary Christian School stands as one of the strongest and largest schools in the classical and Christian school movement.

We are prepared to offer more.

Let’s pursue more together!

Thirty years ago, parents, convinced that modern education was a failed experiment, began to start schools based on an ancient model of education. Now, classical and Christian schools exist all over the country with Cary Christian School standing as one of the strongest and largest schools in the movement.

They focused on truths that other schools ignored.

We not only teach Scripture, we rigorously focus on learning the truth, or the “grammar,” of every subject. Few schools delve deeply into the study of history. Few schools introduce students to the great books of literature. Most schools have even abandoned the study of math facts.

They developed skills that most schools had forgotten.

The classical and Christian movement was an early innovator in the return to a skills-based approach to education. While it has become trendy to teach critical thinking, only the classical and Christian movement takes children through the rigorous regimen of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Others may want to teach kids how to learn, but only classical schools offer children “the tools of learning.”

They expected a morality that other schools rejected.

Thirty years ago, we wanted our kids in schools where morality would still be taught. Now, schools not only allow deviant behavior, they revere it as courageous.

A STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

Prepared to Offer More

The classical model, as it has throughout history, has proven itself again.

2/3rds of our 2019 graduates will score within the top 8% on the ACT.

They will earn admission into select schools.

They will accept millions in scholarships.

They will have experienced an excellent classical education founded upon a biblical worldview.

Cary Christian School is positioned to do something extraordinary.

We have an experienced Board and seasoned leaders.

We have master teachers and former graduates in our classrooms.

We have the cultural and financial strength to unearth the wisdom and the eloquence found in this ancient model of education:

The wisdom that built the Greek and Roman Empires

The wisdom that started the Reformation and Renaissance

The wisdom that fueled the American Revolution

We need to learn to execute with a strategic focus.

To improve our classrooms, culture, and campus, we are reinvigorating our commitment to founding principles, removing practices that inhibit growth, and driving a new spirit of innovation and passion into the school.

Together we will pursue a five-year vision for a thriving Cary Christian School.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Three Standards of Improvement

1) A Call for Goodness that Creates Strength and Establishes Freedom

A Higher Standard:

Christ teaches us that there is a righteousness that surpasses the Pharisees. It is a righteousness where the law is not the end but the path to a higher standard, a standard that calls out nobility and the glory of children made in God’s image.

The New Expectation:

The mere appearance of goodness that often earns the accolade “fine young man” or “sweet young lady” cannot be our goal. We should make a clear call for authentic goodness.

The New Graduate:

We are seeking to send out graduates who have forged the strength of character rooted in Christ to run against the tide of culture rather than being swept away by it.

2) A Call for a Spirit of Innovation Forged from Grit and Wisdom

A Higher Standard:

It is a call to nurture the creativity and the curiosity that every kindergartner, almost without exception, possesses on the first day of school and tends to be lost somewhere along the way to adulthood.

A New Expectation:

Our first responsibility is to be a place equal to their capacity for wonder. It is a call to design a path that instills a passion to work wisely and diligently so that students learn to ask questions, design solutions, and solve problems.

A New Graduate:

This type of education offers more than the answers on the test; it equips students with the right questions for all of life.

3) A Call for a Readiness to Execute Driven by Strong Core Convictions and Love for Others

A Higher Standard:

While the core curriculum of a classical school focuses on developing the habits of the mind in a way that develops the habits of the soul, we should not assume that students will automatically learn to apply these habits to the economy, government, leadership, the arts, and technology. We must accept the responsibility to fan the flame of truth into a readiness to act.

A New Expectation:

Having taught students to recognize, understand, and love what is good, true, and beautiful, we will prepare them to convert their knowledge into action. As we encourage them to grow in virtue, expand their knowledge, and develop their curiosity, we will equip them with the tools they need to engage and shape the culture for Christ.

A New Graduate:

We will prepare students to learn any task or to serve at any post. They will have the tools and the wisdom to fulfill God’s calling in their life.

In sum, we seek to answer a call to equip graduates with the strength and freedom to run the race, and to do so with grit and wisdom, ready to engage the culture with strong core convictions and a self-sacrificial love.

OUR STRATEGIC FOCUS

Cultivating a Learning-Community Mindset

We Are Prepared to Offer More.

The Strategic Focus: To leverage our community’s capacity and the capacity of our classical and Christian education, we need to develop a learning-community mindset.

If we are going to become better educators, we will have to become better learners.

We need every employee and a core group of parents and grandparents who are prepared to walk with us in the same direction.

Our prayer is that we will all learn to focus our desire for more for our children on each child’s need to know Christ and to flourish through Him in the future.

We want to prove that “providing an excellent classical education founded upon a biblical worldview” is an effective and efficient way to point your child toward Christ and to equip him or her to flourish through Him in the future.

We want you to help us discover mission-driven opportunities for improving the extraordinary outcome we offer each student.

To build upon our strength, we need to understand the “more” our mission promises.

We need to identify opportunities for improvement.

We need to imagine a mission-driven vision for the future.

We need to pursue it.

Let’s Pursue More!

OUR STRATEGIC PLAN:

Together We Will Thrive

Together we will pursue a five-year vision for a thriving Cary Christian School

By leveraging our Learning-Community Mindset, we will develop a more strategic and intuitive implementation of our mission in every area of the school.

The development and presentation of an actionable plan and a call for a pursuit of more. May God give us the mindset and the readiness for action to pursue an extraordinary outcome for every student.

Year 3 (2019-20): Shepherding Hearts and Minds

The development and implementation of a strategic pursuit of more. May God give us the wisdom and skillfulness to guide students toward goodness, strength, and freedom.

Year 4 (2020-21): Cultivating Scholé

The intuitive and skillful implementation of the habits and the wisdom of classical scholé rather than the ideology found in the modern school. May God root us deeply in our mission so that we will prepare each student to flourish through Christ in the future.

Year 5 (2021-22): Prepared for Generations to Come

We will finish the construction of new spaces for community, academics, arts, and athletics. May God provide us a place to provide future generations with an excellent classical education founded upon a biblical worldview.

Join us in our pursuit of more.

A creative branding strategy or charismatic charm will not move our school forward. We need a community ready to invest in the future of our school. We need advisors. We need volunteers. We need donors. We need you.

We need a strong contingent of parents and grandparents who see the “more” our mission promises.

We need families who are willing to imagine together a mission-driven vision for the future.

We need individuals who are ready to pursue more together.

Pursuing More:

A Society of Teachers

A $200,000 investment in our teachers.

Our goal is to hire four new Upper School teachers to create margin for teacher development.

Our Upper School teachers currently prepare for two different classes and teach three sections of each class. That is six teaching hours per day and approximately four hours of preparation.

Adding four new teachers allows us to reduce the teaching load and to provide a daily planning period for teachers.

Established schools do not require Upper School teachers to teach six sections because a smaller teaching load improves teacher energy and focus.

At the heart of our strategic plan, Called to Cultivate, is the creation of a teacher development program called The Society of Teachers.

The Society of Teachers is a teacher development program that encourages growth in three areas:

We will adopt the mindset and the habits of a learning community.

We will develop the relational capacity and the mastery teaching requires.

We will teach with a focused passion to offer each student an extraordinary outcome.

Without a planning period for our Upper School teachers, teacher development cannot increase, and the plan fails.

Improving our classrooms, our culture, and our campus begins with teacher development. Before we can increase expectations for development, we need to hire four new teachers. Hiring four new teachers strategically impacts every area of our school.

Invest in our school’s future.

This initiative will significantly improve the experience of our students and thus create momentum to fill empty seats. This type of growth increases our capacity to offer more to our current students and to be more benevolent to those who need help.

Together we pursue a five-year vision for a thriving Cary Christian School

CLASSROOM

We desire for every student to experience the best of the classical Christian education model. This will come to life through a robust curriculum delivered by loving teachers passionate about helping all students learn in the best ways possible.

CULTURE

We seek to cultivate a vibrant community where students thrive in their faith and knowledge. We will grow together in our devotion to Christ, our love for one another, and our commitment to classical Christian education.

CAMPUS

We envision the development of spaces to enrich learning, innovation, athletics, the arts, and the fostering of relationships.

Cultivating a Learning-Community Mindset

6 Areas of Improvement:

We have established a culture and an organizational structure to keep a consistent focus on driving these three standards through every area of the school. While we hope that you will see steady improvements in the following six areas throughout the year, we will provide a regular report according to the following calendar.